Grace is mentioned 277 times in the Bible and in essence; is an exclusive gift of God. And in that sense we love to talk about it and rightly so.

Mercy however is mentioned 467 times in the Bible and although it originated from God, it an an attribute shared by both God and Man. You might say it’s a precursor to grace.

God often blessed many in the Bible who were merciful to others. Mercy produces more mercy ( mostly) It’s not discussed as much, as it’s largely our part of the program; yet we need to keep a close eye on how we share or don’t share this provision.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

I can’t give anyone grace; only God . But I can have a heart full of mercy, I can let things go, I can release a debt owed to me ,and am often/almost always expected to by my King, If I don’t there are consequences for me hardening my heart and holding someone hostage.

So Grace is great, even amazing as it’s offered with no price on my part except to receive it and say- Thank you very much! Lord God for giving to me that which I could never earn, not even in a million years, ( Jesus paid it all)

Since I now have that Grace, let me show mercy to others, that they may see beyond this earthly man, to the awesome graceful God that is the very life within all who have and will open the door to Him.

Save your life!There’s desperate times people go thru when they feel their all alone, when their plans don’t go the way they thought . Hagar and Ishmael felt they were left for dead, dying of thirst but Gen 21:17 ..And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven…God refreshed them.

The great prophet Elijah was brought to despair by his dealing with the wicked Jezebel 1 Kings 19: 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 ‘And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. ‘ He thought he was the last one-alone, God had to show elijah that there were seven thousand of His faithful people who -had not- bowed to false God’s . God restored and resent, and shortly thereafter took Elijah up ^.

Jesus offered the woman at the well lifelong and eternal refreshing John 4: 10 ‘Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ‘

She was smart and said’ give me this water.’ …Be smart grab a bucket, the Lord will fill it-“Don’t stop believing’.

! Cor 13 9-13 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

It’s funny how we sometimes think we’re achieved a certain status in the things of the Lord, and then He has to humble us again. I remember at a Church in Michigan, the Associate Pastor invited me to breakfast, just to talk and spend some time in fellowship. He had some very encouraging words for me, I had lacked having people in my life with ” a you can do it attitude.” ( note if your have good encouragers in your life, cherish them like gold and diamonds, they don’t come along everyday)

Anyway- When I left I felt like I was on top of the world. Pulling my van out of the parking lot-I backed up right into a telephone pole, no major damage just a decent dent in one of the rear doors. A thorn in my side. a balance, OK Lord I’ve heard it said that the Amish , or some of them -put a nick or a scratch in some of their furniture they build, because it’s so near perfect-that they want you to know, only God is perfect.

The rest of us are in constant need of grace and mercy. That’s why the Apostle Paul said that he gloried in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ may rest on him. God’s smallest miracle is bigger than my biggest effort in the flesh. The status that we can rest in-stay, in is the mindset of the servant. If you don’t agree with me-keep trying to climb that hill to glory proclaiming what a warrior you are etc. I’ll meet you down here in the feet washing position when you wear your self out,

Don’t get me wrong, we are Kings and Priests, Princesses and Warriors etc.. But it’s got EVERYTHING to do with His grace period. Even our ability to follow and obey Him is by His grace. Look at the last verses of Amazing Grace.

And he said to His disciples;

7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Luke 17:10

In other words,… not yet, for now let’s Him lift you up, we serve now, one day we’ll reign.
Boast in the One who can really set the prisoner free, point to the Savior, and He”ll acknowledge you. You won’t have to kick in the door, it will be wide open, the table will be set, and there will be a place set with your name on it- at His side. This I believe. God Bless; Dan

Faith comes when we hear the truth about Jesus Christ, the ability to really hear the truth about Jesus is opened up to us through ( hearing ,seeing) the Word of God: It’s all an excellent gift-open it up and pour it on your faith seeds and watch your faith grow 🙂 Sometime I simply play Bible tapes/ MP’s.. and even while half-listening while cleaning or making dinner etc..- my faith is built up, my hope rises, it works! The Word of God is pure-effective medicine 🙂
Dan

New International Version
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

New Living Translation
So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

English Standard Version
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

New American Standard Bible
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

King James Bible
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? Mark 2:16

Matthew 5:46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

In building our buildings.-In putting on our programs, and feeding our faces in many different places, we’ve often got lost in our business instead of making it our business to save the lost.

Not that there’s not a lot of good that happens, there is, but a stream or a river must receive fresh water and continue to flow out into larger bodies of water to remain fresh and life producing.

We should never be satisfied with the status Quo or deceive ourselves to think we’ve arrived at some higher plain than someone else. Jesus showed us the Highest Place when he kneeled down and washed His disciples’ feet, yet they still didn’t know who He was really or understand His mission.

The Holy Spirit changed and is changing that, yes that other often misunderstood person referred to as our comforter known as the Holy Spirit, we won’t dive into those deep waters presently, but just let me say if you don’t know Him and He doesn’t know you? You’re in a boat load of trouble full of holes, but you don’t have to be.

Now, yes there are those who say they’re ‘Spirit filled’ who somehow never seem to reach out and touch or help anyone, they’ll talk about it till they’re out of breath, but are too ‘next leveled’ to reach down to the so called ‘sinner.’

I’ve got a news flash for you- we all sin, you can call the disciple James a liar if you don’t agree with me.

But Christ Jesus who never sinned didn’t see it a crime to love prostitutes and thieves and beggars.
He gave them not what they wanted, but He gave them what they needed-real life, restoration.

Now the scriptures warn of religious acting folks (hypocrites) who will be turned away on that day. I don’t want to be one of them, I doubt you do either..

So like in the Walking Dead, how do you stay alive, how do you keep from turning into a walker (zombie –for those of you who are not privy).

We’ll, we have the remedy in the redeemer, if we stay close to Him, he’ll remind us to: Yes…Love one another, by this shall all men know you are my disciples ..John 13:35
( and he meant real meaningful love, beyond the hand-shake, what was your name again stuff)

But just as important; we should never forget John 3:16 ..you know it , If you don’t I’ll buy you a Bible 🙂

That true love that He gives us for one another is not a closed loop, but an ongoing song that is supposed to have many verses added as the singing continues.

Staying close to the Life-Giver keeps us truly alive and compassionate to others.

The Bible- per say is still being written and you are a Living Epistle, a major character; or not. You decide

Consider this -Matt 13:18 W.E.B 18 “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. 19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. 20 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

We have no more excuses for misunderstanding His love and how we are to love in return, we can choose to be ‘good ground’ for the Lord as we anticipate -the return of the King 🙂 God Bless-Dan www.covenantnovel.info

Neh. 6:3 (KJV)
And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
When God gives you a mandate, you have to be diligent with it, hold it in your teeth like a pit bull, others may not understand. You may seem to overreact or to be too radical. i know at times I have overreacted and I thank God He and others forgive, and the Lord balances me out.

I still would rather be accused of being over-zealous, than underwhelmed in the protection of His presence and peace in my life. The Lord saved me and became my friend when no one else cared. I will never forget what He did for me. I m working on projects that I know will save lives, and like Nehemiah, I will not leave the building of this wall ( Kingdom) for even the nicest of reasons; All my resources and time are invested in this Kingdom.

I am no where near perfect; yet I work for the perfect One; So I know the final product will be awesome, and in a nutshell; That end result is you. If you have put your trust in the Savior Jesus Christ, He will finish what He started in you, and I plead with you as times progress; Let Him do His work: I am but one of many working on this wall, we have building materials in our hands, but also swords if we need them, because not everyone wants to see this wall ( Kingdom) built. There are many enemies to the building of it, and some we carry in our own pockets; laziness; carelessness; drunkenness etc.. These produce nothing but waste in our lives, and weight us down so that we can’t/don’t work effectively.

There is a righteous anger; and I must first judge myself and say enough in waiting and being quiet; and we must Judge ourselves in the Church also before we can see clearly to help those who will become part of us.This is a noble and glorious Kingdom we are receiving and it worth our full cooperation; heart, mind and soul.

And this Kingdom begins with the least of these, when our hearts are broken before the King, he reminds us of our sick neighbor, or the mom who needs clothes for her kids to go back to school, with His eyes we see beyond self and begin filling in the gaps of the wall. Love never fails; I’m starting with me. God Bless: Dan